Tracey J. Devonport

University of Wolverhampton · Faculty of Education, Health and Wellbeing

It is widely acknowledged that adolescent females are particularly at risk of low body esteem. Low body esteem is associated with poor mental health and other negative outcomes. Interventions to help raise body esteem could have a considerable impact, especially if the intervention is low cost, easy to implement, and scalable. We investigated the e...

It is widely acknowledged that adolescent females are particularly at risk of low body-esteem. Low body-esteem is associated with poor mental health and other negative outcomes. Interventions to help raise body-image could have considerable impact, especially if the intervention is low-cost, easy to implement and scalable. We investigated the effic...

Receiving digital healthcare consultations for weight management, in place of in-person appointments, has proliferated in recent years, accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic. The objective of the present study was to investigate patients' experiences of digital weight management services (DWMS) provided by the National Health Service (NHS). Particul...

Guided by transactional stress theory, this study aimed to explore elite U.K. soccer coaches’ perceived stressors, the situational properties, appraisals, and coping during the COVID-19 pandemic. This study also aimed to explore any variation in stress experiences across football league standards A total of 13 professional first-team male U.K. asso...

Emotional eating or the tendency to eat in response to emotional states can be assessed using self-report measures. The Emotional Eating Scale-II is a commonly used and reliable instrument that measures the desire to eat in response to a range of unpleasant and pleasant emotions. The current study aimed to corroborate the validity of the EES-II and...

In support of the UK Stonewall Rainbow Laces Campaign, which focuses on supporting LGBTQ+ people, the British Olympic Association ‘Team GB’ changed their Facebook logo to ‘Team LGBT+’ for a Day. Using reflexive thematic analysis, we assessed public reactions to an official Facebook post explaining the temporary logo change. During polarised debate,...

Background: Measurable differences in the experience and treatment of mental health conditions have been found to exist between different racial categories of community groups. The objective of this research was to review the reported mental health of Black African-Caribbean communities in the UK, determinants of mental health, and interventions t...

As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic people have endured potentially stressful challenges which have influenced behaviors such as eating. This pilot study examined the effectiveness of two brief interventions aimed to help individuals deal with food cravings and associated emotional experiences. Participants were 165 individuals residing in United...

LGBTQ+ labels and terminology in society embed ideological assumptions and affect who gains community support and protection. In academia, terminology is also needed to help define study objects, methods, and goals. Academics therefore need to choose their words to be both precise and appropriate, adjusting to changes in societal language. This art...

Background: A large-scale online study completed by this research team found that brief psychological interventions were associated with high-intensity pleasant emotions and predicted performance. The present study extends this work using data from participants (n = 3376) who completed all self-report data and engaged in a performance task but who...

On March 23rd, 2020, elite soccer academies in the UK closed in compliance with the government enforced lockdown intended to contain the COVID-19 pandemic. This forced parents, players, and coaches to reconsider how they interacted with, and supported, one another. The aims of the present study were (a) to explore the perceptions of players, parent...

This study explored the influence of the COVID-19 pandemic on perceived health behaviors; physical activity, sleep, and diet behaviors, alongside associations with wellbeing. Participants were 1,140 individuals residing in the United Kingdom (n = 230), South Korea (n = 204), Finland (n = 171), Philippines (n = 132), Latin America (n = 124), Spain (...

The present study evaluated the effectiveness of an intervention intended to improve academy players’ performance under pressure. Male academy soccer players (n = 82; mean age =14.12 years, SD = 2.28) completed a baseline pressure task producing performance scores (A) for decision making and skill execution. By completing a pressure task, players r...

This study, adopting a feminist perspective explored two research questions: (1) how do male and female athletes perform an athletic identity through photographic self-representation, and (2) what are the messages they look to convey, as role models, through these images? Eighteen culturally diverse high-performance athletes (12 female, 6 male; mea...

We examined intra- and interpersonal emotion regulation in the hour prior to athletic competition. Specifically, we investigated the extent to which differences between experienced and desired emotions were related to emotion regulation processes. Participants ( n = 114) from team/doubles sport rated their experienced and desired emotions before a...

This paper examines the gendered performances and identity construction of UK female University soccer players and netballers (n = 31). Focus group interviews explored their sporting experiences with reference to body perceptions, and perceptions of their sporting bodies outside sporting contexts. Three themes resulted from data analysis, these bei...

The ability to perform under pressure is necessary to achieve goals in various domains of life. We conducted a systematic review to synthesise findings from applied studies that focus on interventions developed to enhance an individual's ability to cope under performance pressure. Following the preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and m...

Abstract PURPOSE: This article presents a reflective account of Patient and Public Involvement (PPI) in the development of obesity and binge eating research. METHOD: We established Patient Advisory Groups (PAGs) at two English regional National Health Service (NHS) weight management services. PPI was evaluated as follows: (i) PAG members completed...

Purpose: This article presents a reflective account of Patient and Public Involvement (PPI) in the development of obesity and binge eating research. Method: We established Patient Advisory Groups (PAGs) at two English regional National Health Service (NHS) weight management services. PPI was evaluated as follows: (i) PAG members completed a Post...

This study compared the effects of following a pacer versus following a self-paced plan on psychological responses and pacing behavior in well-trained distance runners. Pacing in the present study was individually tailored where each participant developed a personal strategy to ensure their goal time was achieved. We expected that following a pacer...

The present study tested and extended Lane and Terry (2000) conceptual model of mood-performance relationships using a large dataset from an online experiment. Methodological and theoretical advances included testing a more balanced model of pleasant and unpleasant emotions, and evaluating relationships among emotion regulation traits, states and b...

A systematic review was completed according to Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. A comprehensive search of four electronic databases (2004–2015) yielded 60,017 articles, of which 29 met inclusion criteria. Included studies performed poorly on data quality analysis in terms of randomisation and c...

The purpose of this study was to provide insights into the use of interpersonal emotion regulation in ice hockey. The following two research questions were examined: (a) what strategies are used in ice hockey to regulate teammates' emotions? And (b) what factors moderate interpersonal emotion regulation? Sixteen members of a professional British ic...

The paper is a case study report of an intervention focused on developing interpersonal emotion regulation among members of a British elite ice hockey team. The intervention was informed by a social-functional approach to emotions (Keltner, Haidt and Shiota, 2006), and utilized the Emotions as Social Information (EASI) model (Van Kleef, 2009). Inte...

This study assessed whether decisions made by six qualified referees were consistent when watching the live 2016 televised Champions League Final. Referees were paired off into three separate rooms. Two referees watched the game with no supporters present. Two watched the game surrounded by Real Madrid supporters, and the remaining two watched the...

The present study investigated the effects of online self-help interventions on emotions and satisfaction with performance in a sample of runners ( N = 147). Participants set themselves a running time goal they wished to achieve, and made goal attempts pre and post-intervention. After the first goal attempt, participants were randomly assigned to 1...

Emotions can influence the performance of referees leading to a need to examine emotions experienced, and regulation strategies used by referees. The present study assessed emotions and emotion regulation strategies of 19 referees officiating at an Under-19 Lacrosse World Championship. Using survey methods and focus group interviews, officials resp...

In conjunction with BBC Lab UK, the present study developed 12 brief psychological skill interventions for online delivery. A protocol was designed that captured data via self-report measures, used video recordings to deliver interventions, involved a competitive concentration task against an individually matched computer opponent, and provided fee...

There is utility in understanding the antecedents of binge eating (BE), with a view to explaining poorer weight loss treatment responses in this subgroup. A systematic review was completed according to Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines with the aim of exploring associations between emotions and e...

The paper is a case study report of an intervention focused on developing interpersonal emotion regulation among members of a British elite ice hockey team. The intervention was informed by a social-functional approach to emotions (Keltner, Haidt, & Shiota, 2006), and utilized the Emotions as Social Information (EASI) model (Van Kleef, 2009). Inter...

The present study investigated the effects of emotion regulation strategies on self-reported emotions and 1600 m track running performance. In stage 1 of a three-stage study, participants (N = 15) reported emotional states associated with best, worst and ideal performance. Results indicated that a best and ideal emotional state for performance comp...

Evidence from sequential-task studies demonstrate that if the first task requires self-control, then performance on the second task is compromised (Hagger, Wood, Stiff, and Chatzisarantis, 2010). In a novel extension of previous sequential-task research, the first self-control task in the current study was a sport psychology intervention, paradoxic...

The purpose of this study was to provide insights into the use of interpersonal emotion regulation in ice hockey. The following two research questions were examined: (a) what strategies are used in ice hockey to regulate teammates' emotions? and (b) what factors moderate interpersonal emotion regulation? Sixteen members of a professional British ic...

The present study used a mixed methods approach to evaluate the usage and perceived effectiveness of a 12-month coping intervention. Twelve junior national netball players followed an intervention that had two objectives: 1) to encourage the use of future-oriented coping across goal-oriented contexts and 2) to facilitate resource accumulation and m...

In the UK there are two routes to becoming an applied scientist in the domain of sport and exercise psychology. At the time of publication use of the title =psychologist' is restricted to British Psychologist Society (BPS) members registered with the Health and Care Professions Council. Members of the British Association of Sport and Exercise Scien...

Research into emotion regulation in sport has predominantly focused on intrapersonal regulation of emotion response systems (i.e. subjective experience, cognitions, behaviours or physiological responses). However, researchers in social psychology have suggested that the emotion regulation process is inherently social and interpersonal. This shift r...

Correspondence to: apfriesen@gmail.com Rationale & Purpose The purpose of this study was to:  Deliver an intervention to improve interpersonal emotion regulation within an ice hockey team  Situate data within the Emotions As Social Information (EASI) Model (Van Kleef, 2009) Participants Participants were 23 (Age: M = 23) members of a male British...

Research indicates that women undergoing In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) experience intense unwanted emotions, and that these emotions may result in the decision to abandon treatment. This case-study explored stressors, emotional responses and emotion regulation strategies of a female couple undergoing IVF procedures over a ten-week period. A mixed-me...

Coping is highly relevant to performance in any domain where individuals strive to attain personally important goals. Thirty-three female national standard adolescent netball players participated in focus group and one-on-one interviews. Participants reported stressors experienced in not only sport, but also in other areas of life. They also report...

Social psychology researchers have proposed a social-functional approach to emotions whereby emotions coordinate people's behaviour to meet the shared challenges in their environment [Keltner, D., Haidt, J., & Shiota, M.N. (2006). Social-functionalism and the evolution of emotions. In M. Schaller, J.A. Simpson, & D.T. Kenrick (Eds.), Evolution and...

University of Wolverhampton Coping is highly relevant to performance in any domain where individuals strive to attain personally important goals. Thirty-three female national standard adolescent netball players participated in focus group and one-on-one interviews. Participants reported stressors experienced in not only sport, but also in other are...

The present study explored the effects of unexpected loss of water supply on coping strategies used among a sample of habitual exercisers. Nine volunteer participants completed semi-structured interviews within a week of resumed water supply. Results indicated that all participants reported modifying their exercise regimen during the period of wate...

Emotions experienced before and during sports competition have been found to influence sports performance. Emotion regulation is defined as the automatic or deliberate use of strategies to initiate, maintain, modify or display emotions (Gross & Thompson, 2007) and is proposed to occur when a discrepancy exists between current and desired emotions....

The present study investigated relationships between emotions and emotion regulation strategies employed by runners. Given that athletes and exercisers strive toward personally meaningful goals, sport and exercise settings represent a potentially fruitful context in which emotion regulation could be studied. Volunteer runners (N = 1025) reported re...

Objectives: Stemming from a broader study on interpersonal emotion regulation in sport, this presentation addressed the following research questions: a) how is fighting used as an interpersonal emotion regulation strategy in ice hockey? b) What are the factors that moderate this process? Design: Embedded within an action research project, partici...

An online survey was used to explore emotion regulation strategies used by runners (N = 506, mean age = 37.69 years, SD = 8.84 years) in the hour prior to training or competition. Content analysis of responses identified 28 categories of emotion regulation strategy, with the most popular being goal setting (23%), distraction (12%), recall of past p...

This study investigated relationships between trait emotional intelligence, pre-race emotions, and post-race emotions among a sample of 93 competitive 10-mile runners. Participants completed emotional intelligence and pre-race emotion scales approximately one hour before starting a 10-mile race, repeating completion of the emotion scales within one...

Evidence suggests athletes will try to regulate pre-competition emotions to a state that helps goal pursuit (Hanin, 2003) and supposedly unpleasant emotions such as anger and tension have been found to associate with successful performance. The present study focused on emotional states associated with optimal performance. Male athletes (N = 222) we...

The present chapter explores stressors and coping amongst competitive sports participants. The intention is to consider the utility of theory and empirical literature in informing the construction of coping interventions for use with this population. To initiate the chapter, I will offer a brief account of my own experiences and influences pertinen...

The present chapter will explore stress, coping and the utility of theory amongst sports officiating populations. In order to understand my induction into this area of applied research, I will offer a brief account of my relevant experiences. A review of research that has explored stressors and resultant coping amongst the officiating population wi...

The chapter begins by outlining the importance of applying theory in practice. The purpose is to set the context for the remaining chapters each of which endeavours to exemplify the way in which theory can inform practice. The present chapter then offers a summary of the most salient stress theories from distinct classifications, those being stimul...

It is commonly acknowledged that stress and coping has an impact upon the productivity, health and well-being of individuals. As such, many domains of psychology are seeking to better understand the stress and coping dynamic to inform the construction of interventions intended to facilitate coping. This book is designed to profile the use of theory...

This study explored stress and coping experiences during a solo expedition to the North Pole using concurrent and retrospective methods. A 47-year-old female explorer, with 12 years of polar experience, completed a daily diary during the expedition. On return, 2 semistructured interviews were completed to identify the challenges and coping efforts...

The Emotion Regulation of Other and Self scale (EROS: Niven, Totterdell, Stride, & Holman, 2011) was origi-nally designed to assess strategies used to increase both pleasant and unpleasant emotions in a range of situations and over a 4 week period. The aim of the present study was to cross-validate the scale in a specific situation and over a short...

Lane, A. M., Beedie, C., Devonport, T. J. (2011). Measurement issues in emotion and emotion regulation. In J. Thatcher, M. Jones, & D. Lavallee (Eds.), Coping and Emotion in Sport. (2nd ed., pp. 79-101). London: Taylor & Francis.

This study examined relationships between beliefs about emotions (meta-emotion beliefs), emotion regulation strategies, and pre-competition emotional states using an instrumental model of emotion regulation. Three hundred and sixty runners reported meta-beliefs about the influence of anxiety and/or anger on performance, completed a short emotion sc...

The present study compared the effects of two different music interventions on changes in emotional states before and during running, and also explored effects of music interventions upon performance outcome. Volunteer participants (n = 65) who regularly listened to music when running registered online to participate in a three-stage study. Partici...

Psychological skills are the systematic and consistent practice of mental or psychological skills for the purpose of improving performance and /or enjoyment. Emotional intelligence is defined as the ability to carry out accurate reasoning about emotions. Both psychological skills and emotional intelligence have been found to associate desirable out...

Our research assessed whether mood and emotion can be measured as distinct constructs. Development and validation of the Emotion and Mood Components of Anxiety Questionnaire (EMCA-Q) is reported. We based the questionnaire on a subjective-contextual model of emotion-mood distinctions, which specifies that differentiation of the emotion of anxiety f...

This study investigated relationships between self-report measures of emotional intelligence and memories of pre-competitive emotions before optimal and dysfunctional athletic performance. Participant-athletes (n = 284) completed a self-report measure of emotional intelligence and two measures of pre-competitive emotions; a) emotions experienced be...

Objectives Evidence suggests competing in sport is associated with intense emotions and that emotional control is central to success. The present study tests the notion that emotion regulation strategies are driven by discrepancies between current and ideal emotions (Hanin, 2003) and that emotional intelligence self-efficacy influences this process...

Our research assessed whether mood and emotion can be measured as distinct constructs. Development and validation of the Emotion and Mood Components of Anxiety Questionnaire (EMCA-Q) is reported. We based the questionnaire on a subjective-contextual model of emotion–mood distinctions, which specifies that differentiation of the emotion of anxiety f...

This study describes the development and validation of a brief self-report measure of emotional intelligence based on Salovey and Mayer’s (1990) conceptualization. In stage one, the 33-item Emotional Intelligence Scale (EIS: Schutte et al., 1998) was assessed for content validity by a panel of experts. The panel deemed 17 items unsuitable for furth...

This study utilized a within-subject design to investigate relationships between emotional intelligence and memories of mood states associated with optimal and dysfunctional performance in competitive sport and academic situations. Sport students (N = 436) completed a self-report Emotional Intelligence Scale (EIS), whilst retrospective accounts of...

Recent research suggests that appropriately-tailored interventions can assist adolescents enhance their coping skills (Frydenberg and Lewis, 2004). The present paper reflects upon the delivery of a longitudinal coping intervention utilized by junior national netball players. Reflection is focused on issues such as the rationale for the intervention...

This study investigated the factorial validity of the 33-item self-rated Emotional Intelligence Scale (EIS: Schutte et al., 1998) for use with athletes. In stage 1, content validity of the EIS was assessed by a panel of experts (n = 9). Items were evaluated in terms of whether they assessed EI related to oneself and EI focused on others. Content va...

Relationships between self-report trait emotional intelligence and psychological skills were investigated. Male athletes (54) completed the Emotional Intelligence Scale (EIS; Schutte et al., 1998) and the Test of Performance Strategies (TOPS; Thomas, Murphy, & Hardy, 1999). Canonical correlation results suggested psychological skills used in both c...

This case study explores the sources of stress and use of coping strategies amongst Higher Education lecturers. In semi-structured interviews, lecturers (N=10) reported experiencing a wide range of stressors, summarised under three interrelated themes: 1) organisational stress; 2) subject-linked stress; and 3) non-organisational stress. All partici...

The use of computer-aided assessment (CAA) can provide lecturing staff with easy cost-effective solutions to heavy marking workloads. This case study explores the implementation of CAA into a limited number (n=2) of level 1 modules. The aim was to explore students’ responses and lecturers’ perceptions of CAA. Students who had experienced the new as...

The present study used quantitative and qualitative methods to explore the relationship between interval feedback and self-efficacy toward umpiring netball games. Grade "A "level umpires (n = 7) provided feedback to umpires (n = 40) under two conditions; 1) interval feedback given at the end of one tournament game (after 14 minutes) and again at th...

The present chapter will explore the contribution of emotional intelligence to the coping process, with a focus on adolescent populations. Following an introduction to these concepts, a review of research that seeks to enhance coping skills and behaviours amongst adolescent populations will be presented. This is followed by a review of an intervent...

The study used semi-structured interviews to explore the views of three high performance kickboxers regarding the contribution of psychology to the development and maintenance of expert performance within kickboxing. The results provide a useful insight into the experiences of high performance kickboxers, identifying those mental skills and psychol...

The present study examined changes in primary and secondary appraisal, and coping strategies utilized in the final weeks leading to dissertation submission. Sixty volunteer Sports Studies dissertation students (male: n = 29; female: n = 31) completed an adapted Cognitive Appraisal of Health Scale (CAHS: Kessler, 1998), and Brief COPE (Carver, Schei...

Metadata only Relationships between self-efficacy, coping and retention among first-year undergraduate students were investigated. Qualitative methods were used to develop a self-efficacy measure assessing confidence to achieve those competencies required to successfully complete the first year of an undergraduate degree. One hundred and thirty-one...